Eesiliewt knee pad



June 3, 1930.

J. E. SHOTWELL RESILIENT KNEE PAD Filed Sept. 21, 1929 lNvENToR QT-ECShOZLU-QBLL ATTORNEY Patented June 3, 1930 UNETED STATES JOE E. SHOTWELL, or STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA nnsrmmw xivnnrh'n Application filed September 21', 192 9. -S eriaL No'. 394,261.

This invention relates to knee protecting pads for agricultural and similar workers and is particularly intended for the use of pickers of cotton and similar crops which are harvested by hand and which necessitate considerable kneeling on the part of the workers. The knee being more or less continuously in contact with the hard or broken ground soon becomes fatigued and chafed as is well known 1 to those experienced in this work and the ordinary form of knee pad while preventing the wearing out of the trousers, does not materially protect the knee itself against the fatiguing effect.

The principal object of my invention is to avoid the above objectionable features and to increase the comfort and physical well being of such workers by providing a knee protecting pad so constructed that a spring mounted or suspended cushion is provided between the knee and the ground.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

' Fig. 1 is a fanciful perspective of a cotton.

picker in operation showing my improved knee pad in place.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the pad detached.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectionof the pad. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the device as on the line 44 of Fig. 3. r

' Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4. 7

Referring now more particularly to the numerals of reference on the drawings, the device comprises a shoe which is preferably of rigid sheet metal and consists of a flat bottom or base 1 of rectangular form having upstanding flanges 2 around the sides and front, to re-enforce the base against deflection or warping.

Fitting loosely between the flanges of'the shoe is acushionsupporting frame of a shape slmilar to that of the shoe and comprisinga flat bottom 3 with upstanding flanges 4 along the sides and across-the front. Adjacent'its rear'end this frame is pivoted onthe shoe as indicated at 5, in such a manner that the members 1 and 3 are vertically spacedfrom each other. "Under the axialplane of the frame pivots, the base 1 is provided with an upstanding curved. ridge 6 extending across said base and on which the member 3 rides. This ridgepreventsbending of said-member 3 while permitting it to freely rockabout its pivotal connections. a

Projecting upwardly from the front flange 4 is a'thick' bu't flexible'leather strap or band'7, to'which a cushion or pad 8 of'suitable character 'is' flexibly attached. This cushion rests on the bottom'm'ember'3 and has side flanges 9 of flexible material suchas canva'syprojecting upwardly therefr'omalong the sides and across the: front edge toa' level considerably higher than the top of the flange 4.

The cross sectional area of the-pador cushion is such asto enablethe knee of the worker to bereceived betweenthe side flanges-9, the leather band 7 engaging the joint of the knee adjacent its upper extremity. A flexible strap 10 provided with a buckle is mounted in connection with themember 7; while a similar strap 10 is secured at one end of the side flange 4 of the cushion frame adjacent its rear or pivoted end, thisstrap being adapted to co-operate with abuckle'12 fixed'on the opposite side flange. Thesestraps are ada'pt edto engage the legof the worker adjacent the knee as indicated in Fig. 1, so that the pad willbe removably securedin the proper position relativeto' the knee, and the worker may move about as necessary without danger of the pad becoming displaced or slipping off. The front free end of the cushion supporting frame is resiliently supported from the base of the shoe by verticalcompression springs13 disposed in-the'front corners of the frame and enclosed in housings 14 mounted on said frame. The upper ends of the springs bear against the-tops of the housings, while their lower ends bear against shoulders or enlargements 15 provided adjacent the upper ends of pins 16 which are fixed in and proj ect upwardly from the bottom member 1 and through the bottom member 3 axial of the springs. The enlargements 15 are normally disposed just above the bottom 3 so as to limit the upward movement of the springs 1 and 8 relative to eachother.

It will therefore be seen that by reason of the above construction the knee is not only cushioned by the member 8, but the latter itself is resiliently mounted in connection with the main ground bearing shoe, so that the weight of the worker as imparted to the device is mainly taken by the yieldable compression springs.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form ardeparture from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A resilient knee-pad comprising a shoe, said shoe including a fiat base to rest on the ground, a cushion support seating in the shoe, said support having a base and side and front flanges upstanding therefrom, pivot connection means between the shoe and support adjacent the rear end of the latter and maintaining the support-base spaced from the shoe-base, a cushion to engage a knee resting on the support-base between the flanges thereof,,vertical compression springs housed in the support at its front corners, pins fixed in and projecting upwardly from the shoe and slidable through the supportbase axially of the springs, and shoulders on the base above said base and on which the lower ends of the springs bear.

2. A resilient knee pad including a shoe to rest on the ground, a cushion to engage the knee, a support for the cushion, pivot v connections between the shoe and support at one end, resilient elements between the other end of the shoe and support and normally maintaining the latter spaced from the shoe, and-a ridge upstanding from the shoe in the vertical plane of the pivots and engaging the support to brace the latter against bending without interfering with its rocking movement.

In testimony whereof I afilx my signature.

' JOE E. SHOTWELL. 

